The Polaroid Revolutionary Workers Movement, 2013

In 1970, Caroline Hunter, unearthed evidence that her employees, Polaroid, were indirectly supporting apartheid by producing the ID-2 camera used to make images for the infamous passbooks. The camera included a boost button to increase the flash when photographing subjects with dark skin and two lenses which allowed for the production of a portrait and profile image on the same sheet of film. Hunter’s group, the Polaroid Workers Revolutionary Movement, campaigned for a boycott. Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin produced these works in South Africa on salvaged Polaroid ID-2 systems, interrogating the idea that prejudice might be inherent in the medium of photography itself.
(Lou Miller)

Bio

Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin
Adam Broomberg (1970, Johannesburg, Süd Afrika) and Oliver Chanarin (1971, London, England) live and work in London.
They have had numerous international exhibitions and their work is represented in major public and private collections including Tate Modern, The Museum of Modern Art, the Stedelijk Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, Musee de l’Elysée, The International Center of Photography and Loubna Fine Art Society. Most recently, they have been awarded the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2013.